2024-2025 SLAM SEASON

So you want to compete in a poetry slam at the Providence Poetry Slam? 

HOW COMPETITIONS WORK AT PROVSLAM:

  • A poetry slam is a literary competition in which poets perform their own original work using no props, costumes, or musical accompaniment. If you haven’t, read our poetry slam FAQ!

  • 5 random judges from the audience score each poem from 0.0 to 10.0. Then, we drop the lowest and highest scores to get your cumulative total score.

  • In each round, poets must perform within 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Poets face a time penalty of -0.5 for every 10 seconds over.

  • In Qualifying Slams, poets compete to make the Providence Slam Team.

    • Our Qualifying Slams are capped at 8 poets. To compete, you must have at least 2 original poems. There is an elimination between Rounds 1 and 2.

    • In Round 1, all 8 poets compete. The top 5 scores of Round 1 advance to Round 2.

    • In Round 2, the 5 remaining poets compete.

    • By the end, the top 3 scoring poets of the night will advance to a Semi-Finals Slam.

  • Qualifying Slams culminate in Semi-Final Slams, which culminate in Grand Slam Finals.

    • We have 6 Qualifying Slams in a season. The top 3 of each Qualifying Slam advances to a Semi-Final Slam.

    • We host 2 Semi-Final Slams in a season. At a Semi-Final Slam, the top 4 scoring poets advance to Grand Slam.

    • At Grand Slam Finals — the biggest slam of the year — the top 5 scoring poets will comprise the Providence Slam Team. They will meet, write, practice, and train through the summer to represent our city at the NorthBeast Regional Poetry Slam and Festival in Boston, MA in July 2025.

2024 - 2025 SLAM CALENDAR

  • Qualifying Slam #1:

    Thursday, September 19th, 2024

    • Open to all

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final A

  • Qualifying Slam #2:

    Thursday, October 17th, 2024

    • Open to all

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final A

  • Qualifying Slam #3:

    Thursday, November 21st, 2024

    • Open to all

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final A

  • Semi-Final A:

    Thursday, December 19th, 2024

    • The 9 competitors are the top 3 scoring poets from Qualifying Slams #1 - 3

    • Top 4 scoring poets advance to Grand Slam Finals

  • Qualifying Slam #4:

    Thursday, January 16th, 2025

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final B

  • Qualifying Slam #5:

    Thursday, February 20th, 2025

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final B

  • Qualifying Slam #6:

    Thursday, March 20th, 2025

    • Top 3 scoring poets advance to Semi-Final B

  • Semi-Final B:

    Thursday, April 3rd, 2025

    • The 9 competitors are the top 3 scoring poets from Qualifying Slams #4 - 6

    • Top 4 scoring poets advance to Grand Slam Finals

  • Grand Slam Finals:

    Thursday, April 17th, 2025

    • The 8 competitors are the top 4 scoring poets from Semi-Final A and Semi-Final B

    • Top 5 scoring poets comprise the 2025 Providence Slam Team.

  • Providence Slam Team Meetings:

    April to September 2025

  • The 5 members of the Providence Slam Team will meet, commune, write individual and group poems, choreograph poems, practice, and rehearse through the summer to represent our city at the NorthBeast Regional Poetry Slam and Festival in Boston, MA in July 2025.

  • By May, practices are usually weekly or bi-weekly. It’s highly recommended that team members remain local to the area for most of the summer so they can compete in regional slams leading up to NorthBeast.

  • NorthBeast Regional Poetry Slam and Festival:

    July 2025

  • NorthBeast is the largest regional poetry slam in New England. The Providence Slam Team will compete against other teams from across the region. (We won 1st place in 2023!)

  • Team Features:

    Thursday, September 4th, 2025

  • The 2025 Providence Slam Team will serve as the 1st feature of the 2025-2025 ProvSlam season.

  • The team will also perform at PVD Fest, hosted the weekend at the beginning of September.